Exploring Ancient Colour at the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum: the Peplophoros and its Setting

The international loan exhibition ‹Buried by Vesuvius: Treasures from the Villa dei Papiri› presented at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, 26 June – 28 October 2019, provided the opportunity for a collaborative investigation of the ancient polychromy of select artefacts generously lent by the Parco Archeologico di Ercolano and other Italian institutions. In addition to examining marbles, bronzes, and frescoes recovered by the Bourbons in the 1750s and now housed in Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, particular attention was paid to fresco panels more recently removed from rooms g and r of the atrium quarter of the Villa dei Papiri, to the marble head of an Amazon, and especially to the statue of a female peplophoros conventionally but erroneously identified as ‹Hera/Demeter›, which was excavated in the newly discovered seaside pavilion in April 1997 (PA‑Erco 4331/81595 and 4296/80499). This study focuses on the peplophoros and its architectural setting. A combination of non‑destructive techniques such as digital microscopic examination, broadband spectral imaging, portable X‑ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), and fiber optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) was used to identify the existing ancient pigments, to map how they were used, and to better understand other features, both technical and iconographic. Peptide mass fingerprint analysis and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC‑MS‑MS) were also conducted with the aim of characterizing protein binders, albeit without reaching definitive conclusions. The authors and their collaborators identified pigments commonly used in antiquity to enhance decorative details, revealing the artist’s intention to imitate luxurious materials. They present here a new digital reconstruction commissioned from information architect Mieke Roth to aid the understanding of the polychrome statue in its sumptuous ancient architectural context.